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My salon is a unique concept and I technically don’t have employee’s. I own a hybrid co working salon where I help women starting out in the beauty industry to build their own business from scratch. I have built an open concept space where everyone works for themselves, along side other motivated entrepreneurs.
From day one tho, it was just me. In a small studio suite part time building this empire solo.
I’ve since opened multiple hybrid concept salons and my first “hire” and team mate was an assistant that I helped, worked along side until she was busy enough to rent a chair from me.
As my team grew, so did my spaces and every few years I would have to expand studios, or spaces to accommodate.
The salon I own now is a 3 level, 12 team member capacity salon and we are almost halfway to filling those openings.
When choosing team members to represent me and my brand, I have learned a million lessons.
I’ve done it wrong a dozen times, but I always learn from those mistakes and pivot when needed.
I am really good a building brand awareness and creating a cohesive community that attracts the right stylists and customers for my salon concept. Which is not only unique in the way it is structured, but our brand beliefs are built on holistic principles and systems.
When I was opening this current space I broke one of the number one business rules when opening a brick and mortar space- don’t sign a deal that you can’t financial support alone. I knew the risk, and I had so many inquiring stylists that I too the leap of faith on myself to build something empire worthy.
The vibe is more important than the skill set to me as I can teach someone how to become a technically skilled artist. I can only teach someone so much about mindset, marketing, and creating a career that aligns with their life before it’s up to them to take action and follow through with the systems I demonstrate and relay to them. So when I look for team members, I am looking for individuals who are independent, ambitious, and open to change and growth. Not only as a professional, but personally.
I’m constantly looking for like minded women who are ready to build their own business and create a brand that is truly their own. Which is very rare in the beauty industry and the way it has been cultivated the past couple decades.
However, it’s changing.
Salon owners like me, are changing it.
One brick and mortar at a time.
The 411.
I’m Molly Meek.
I am a salon owner in Columbus Ohio.
I have a 7 year old daughter, and am a divorcee.
I built my current business while going through my divorce and navigating life as a single mother.
I graduated high school in 2007- sup millenials
I first got into the beauty industry in 2009, after attending college briefly for Holistic Health.
My first love was education.
I start teaching immediately following graduation as an educator for Paul Mitchell.
I loved how my experiences, perspectives and knowledge could help young minds in the beauty industry to find their purpose and path. It’s been at the core of all my business models since I started my journey in entrepunership in 2010.
As of today, I have opened multiple booth rental studios and salons. My current salon is called Salon Echo and we are a collective of women business owners that all work along side each other in a beautiful open concept space in the heart of downtown Columbus, in the Short North Arts District.
My background in holistic health has carried over and allowed me to utilize my love for education in a really impactful way.
All of my clients, and stylists have access to me as their built in life coach as I help facilitate their personal development through mindset, motivation, and manifesting methods.
My holistic brand has since been birthed into an entire media and membership company in 2018. It’s called Her Mind Matters, as I have seen the immediate confidence boost hair & makeup cane have on a woman as a stylist myself, I know that her mind matters more. I have grown my personal brand over the years through instagram and word of mouth. It’s cultivated into an entire online community. It’s perfect for those outside of the beauty industry looking for a group of women to connect and growth with.
I think that my love for empowering women, building along side women, and creating business is something that set me and my brand apart. Especially as a team member in my salons. I have learned so much these past couple years in my current space and with building this empire and have finally come up with a sustainable system for all new hires.
Each stylist now has full access to a virtual education program I built, as well as access to me personally for business and life coaching every month during the entirety of their lease as stylist at Salon Echo.
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My first brick and mortar salon I opened in 2017, died for me in 2018. It was the year I separated from my ex husband and the year I became a single mother.
It was the hardest year of my life. I was unable to keep my personal life and mental health afloat which then began to drown my business and the relationships I had built within it. There was a do or die moment for me, as a woman, as a mother and I had to choose me over my business. So I walked away from it and left it all to the two partners I started that first company with.
So for me, it died.
I then spent the following 2 years rebuilding my brand, and foundation solo.
Which is what turned into my current company, Salon Echo. I opened that second brick and mortar in the fall of 2020.
However, Salon Echo almost died this past summer too.
When I started recruiting team members for Echo I made the mistake of becoming their friend first, then their salon owner.
I treated myself as “one of the girls” and the imposter syndrome was real, as I rarely looked in the mirror and saw a CEO. I made dozens of mistakes honestly. from going out with them after hours, oversharing my personal life and finances with them.
The last group of stylists I had renting from me, in my opinion had too much access to me and the boundaries were very blurred when it came to respect and expectations. Which is fully my oversharing selves, fault. I think it goes back to my days in high school always feeling different and like an outcast within a group of girls. I am human, like you and have spent my entire life navigating it with emotional trauma. Just trying to do the best I can with the way I handle myself and react to the things life throws my way. Like I stated before I know one of my strengths is to build amazing brands and create a place where women want to work. People see what I have, the lifestyle I live, and how “easily” things come to me and think its magic or as if I am a good luck charm. A lot of people say others ride my coattail for their own successful gains until they no longer need me anymore.
This however, I think places people on a pedestal and I personally was expected to be perfect and run my business without error. Perfection does not exist, a much as I was even trying to hold myself to that standard. So when I fell, I fell hard without any grace. Even for myself. Rock bottom is no new friend of mine.
Long story short I ended up parting ways with a group of stylists on unfortunate terms. Once I was made aware of them being unhappy at Salon echo I spent months trying to come to an agreement that was fair to everyone, so that we could all part ways amicably. Unfortunately, actions were taken on their end to invade my privacy and slander my name and brand publicly so I let then all out of their contracts freely. Which I believe was always their goal when taking said actions.
This was almost another business death for me, not only because even long after they were gone they felt the need to share their personal opinions publicly. Which was a direct attack on me and my business and an attempt to deter future stylists and clients from coming to Salon echo. But also, like I stated prior- I broke one of the # 1 business rules, of securing a deal you can’t afford on your own when it comes to brick and mortars. For a few months I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to sustain financially and weighed my options of selling, and walking away yet again.
However, though I wasn’t shown any grace from them; the universe and God showed me plenty.
It allowed me to start completely over, evaluate who I was and where I wasn’t showing up as a CEO, and how I wanted to move forward. It allowed me time, and space to create the education system my salon is now built upon. It allowed me the ability to see who my true friends were, and where I should be investing my time when it comes to them. Within my team, isn’t one of them. I realized I needed to surround myself with other CEO women who are on the same playing field as me, who have their own tables, not sitting at mine, who have as much steak in the game and can fully understand where I am coming from and why I make the decisions I have to make.
It’s been the most beautiful disaster and I would walk through it all again, as I’ve never loved me or my business more.
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I think this summer and the turn over I experienced in the salon has taught me what NOT to do. Which is the following: (In my opinion and experience)
You are not their friend. Don’t treat them like one, and don’t hire friends.
They don’t need to know everything about your life.
They should never have access or knowledge of your finances.
Because one I let my guard down in all three of those areas, there was no going back. The respect was lost and the crumbling that occurred was inventible and it was all something that could have been prevented had I had the right systems, structures, and boundaries in place first.
I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I truly know that this was always my path. I was going to continue to burn bridges until I fully learned the lessons.
I was able to build a brand new foundation for Salon Echo from the ashes from rock bottom.
Which started with an education system, that is made up of 6 modules that are on demand and the incoming stylists can complete at their own pace. But it is a step by step guide of how to build their own business, what’s expected of them and how they need to show up daily as a member of the Echo Collective.
I then created a stylist portal with maintenance and culture request forms, that allows the stylists to submit a form if there is an issues in the salon or with another team member. The forms come to me directly and I am able to get back to them within 24 hours to address the issues and it keeps the communication out of our iMessages and inBoxes allowing that boundary to be more professional and confidential .
Within my stylist portal I also drop monthly newsletters with tips, tricks, and tactics on all things mindset, manifesting, and motivation to help them all on their own business building journey. This builds and maintains a high morale as it keeps everyone on the same page, and my expectations, teachings, and beliefs of the business are in black and white for everyone to see, monthly.
I also think that hosting team based events is important. Though I have learned my lesson to go home when the doors close, and not meet my stylist out for happy hour… I know there are parts of those interactions that were very helpful in building the community I strive to have at Salon Echo. Therefore I have limited the amount of interactions I have with my team in social settings, and I host them at the salon or at local restaurant partners for business dinners.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mollymeek.com, https://www.salonechocolumbus.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themollymeek/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mollsmk
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-meek-275a6517a/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChMOu6t-2nx1LSmVNruripg
- Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mollysnotmeek
Image Credits
Christ Witt of cwcontenco